Taiwan bubble tea shop to enter India market

2012/08/02 12:58:44

New Delhi, Aug. 2 (CNA) Chatime, a Taiwanese bubble tea shop, is scheduled Aug. 4 to open its first Indian outlet in New Delhi, the capital of the South Asian country to tap the younger generation through the Taiwan specialty beverage also known as pearl milk tea.

After the opening of a first outlet in the Metropolis shopping center, Chatime has a plan to set up another in Gurgaon, about 30 km south of the capital, in the near future.

In addition, Chatime, which currently operates more than 750 outlets in about 50 cities in 15 countries around the world, including the United States, Australia, China, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, said is aiming to open 150 outlets overall in India over the next five years.

Wang Yiao-huei, chairman of the La Kaffa International Co., which owns Chatime, told the press in India Wednesday that the country has a long history of tea drinking and has great potential for growth of new tea drinks like bubble tea, adding that Chatime is targeting the 15-30 age group.

He said Chatime is also looking forward to bringing bubble tea to the Middle East in the future.

Speaking at Wednesday's news conference, Philip Ong, Taiwan's representative to India, said he is delighted to see bubble tea finally have a presence in the South Asian country.

Ong said Chatime is the first Taiwanese investor from the service sector to make inroads into India, a move that has turned a new page in business ties between Taiwan and India.

India-based Alchemist Group, which serves as the agent for Chatime's tea products, said all of tea and other ingredients for Chatime's Indian outlets will be imported directly from Taiwan.

Wang said that although India is suffering widespread power outages, the impact has been felt more by the manufacturing sector than by the service sector.